PATIENT IDENTITY THEFTS AT 2 LOCAL HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES
By Teri Kelsh
Sun Newspapers
(Created 2/27/03 8:27:38 AM)
An employee at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, and an employee at Park
Nicollet Clinic, St. Louis Park, allegedly stole Social Security numbers from several
former patients to open fraudulent credit card and phone accounts. Then they shared the
information with friends.
Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar announced last Thursday that eight people
had been charged in the identity theft crime ring. The defendants are Theresa Timberlake,
28, former Abbott Northwestern employee; Monaca Gholson, 25, Hopkins, former Park
Nicollet Clinic employee; French Patton, 23, Hopkins; Deidre Malone, 22, Eagan;
Benjamin Richardson Jr., 22, Champlin; Rossco Ross, 24, Anoka; Arnanza Cork, 23,
Minneapolis; and Dyaesha Jones, 22, Brooklyn Center.
Klobuchar said her office is not releasing the location of Timberlake for safety reasons,
but a warrant has been issued for her extradition from outside Minnesota.
The group faces a total of 70 felony counts of identity theft, theft by swindle, aggravated
forgery and financial transaction card fraud. Together they allegedly ran up purchases of
more than $78,000.
Gholson, Patton, Richardson and Jones made their first court appearance last Thursday.
Law enforcement officials are still looking for Malone, Ross and Cork. According to the
Minnesota Gang Strike Force, Patton, Richardson, Ross and Cork have been identified as
members or associates of the Tre Deuce Clique gang.
Art Blakey, metro regional commander of the Minnesota Gang Strike Force, said the Tre
Deuce Clique is one of approximately 150 different sects of the Gangster Disciples most
likely based in Chicago.
“This type of criminal activity is really nothing new,” said Blakey. “It’s not uncommon
for them to prey on young ladies or girlfriends, not that they’re innocent themselves, and
get them to go to work at a bank or a retail store where they gain access to credit-card
numbers. They use them because most of the time these ladies don’t have a criminal
record, so they use them to do their bad stuff.”
Blakey said there are approximately 4,000 gang members or associates in the Twin Cities
area.
Change in procedure
“This is a very disturbing case,” said Klobuchar. “It involves nearly three dozen victims –
people who were receiving medical treatment. This group of defendants exploited the
vulnerability of these patients, invaded their privacy and damaged their credit records by
stealing personal information to open up fraudulent accounts in their names.”
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, with assistance from the Eagan Police
Department, investigated the case initiated after a former patient of Abbott Northwestern,
a stroke victim, reported to police last April that Sears department store contacted him
about the fraudulent use of a credit card in his name.
According to the 26-page criminal complaint, the scam began August 2001 when Abbott
Northwestern employed Timberlake as a certified nursing assistant at Sister Kenny
Institute, a facility providing physical rehabilitation to people suffering severe spine or
brain injuries. The investigation uncovered 31 former patients of Sister Kenny Institute
whose identities were stolen. According to the complaint, most of these patients were
admitted and discharged during Timberlake’s employment. She quit in April 2002.
At the time of Timberlake’s employment, Abbott Northwestern used plastic identification
cards for its patients with a Social Security number and date of birth printed on them.
Each time a patient was admitted, the hospital would produce two cards – one was
attached to the patient’s chart, a supervisor kept the other. After a patient was discharged,
the cards were bundled up and kept in a drawer in a supply and copy room.
As a result of this alleged theft, Klobuchar said Abbott Northwestern no longer generates
these cards.
“It’s necessary that law enforcement and businesses get just as sophisticated
technologically as the crooks who rip us off,” said Klobuchar. “Preventing identity theft
is a combination of three things: consumer education, business practices and making sure
we investigate and prosecute these criminals.”
In the case at Park Nicollet Clinic, Gholson allegedly gained access to patient information
through the computer she used during her temporary employment from December 2001
until April 2002. The investigation uncovered two former Park Nicollet patients whose
identities were stolen.
Monica Schiller, media relations coordinator at Park Nicollet, said they’re not sure how
Gholson was able to access the information she did.
“We do take patient confidentiality very seriously with our employees,” said Schiller.
“We do background and criminal history checks on all prospective employees and make
sure they’re taught about patient confidentiality. We also require temporary employment
agencies to make sure the temporary employees they send us are aware of patient
confidentiality. Any breach of that results in immediate dismissal.”
Schiller said patients aren’t required to give their Social Security number to Park
Nicollet. Although, the health-care provider does use it as a major identifier to make sure
the right patient is receiving the right treatment.
“To our knowledge, this has never happened before,” said Schiller
According to the criminal complaint, Timberlake and Gholson were the only connection
between the patients who identities were stolen and the other six defendants.
Computers replace crowbars
Klobuchar said depending on each of the defendants’ charges and criminal history, their
sentences could vary if convicted. She said her office intends to ask for longer sentences
then would be given under the mandatory sentencing guidelines because of the financial
liability and the vulnerable victims in this case.
According to the criminal complaint, more than $29,000 was spent on goods and services
including a diamond ring, a television, video play stations, designer clothing and bedding,
car stereos, leather purses and hair salon appointments, while an estimated $49,000 in
telephone bills incurred through the fraudulent phone accounts.
Target, Sears, Qwest and Voicestream suffered the financial loss as a result of the
fraudulent purchases, but the victims will continue to suffer because of tarnished credit
records, according to the criminal complaint. As one of the victims was recovering from a
severe injury that left her partially paralyzed, she began receiving calls from a debt
collection agency attempting to collect on an unpaid Target Visa bill. This was the first
time the victim learned someone had used her identity and that her credit record was
affected as a result.
Identity theft continues to be the fastest growing crime in the United States. According to
the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, it’s estimated that victims may suffer over $50
billion per year in identity theft crimes. In 2000, the National Fraud Center reported more
than 700,000 identity theft victims in 2000.
“What’s happening is this: identity theft used to only be committed by sophisticated
crooks, now low-level thieves can easily access this information using a computer,” said
Klobuchar. “Crowbars are being replaced by computers.”
In addition to the 33 patients, investigators discovered 10 additional stolen identities the
defendants used to obtain credit cards or phone accounts, according to information from
the Hennepin County Attorney’s office. Investigators have not been able to trace the
source of these stolen identities.
“At this point, we know of at least 33 former patients whose identities were stolen and
used by this group of defendants. There is still the possibility of other victims,” said
Klobuchar.
Anyone suspecting they or a family member might be a victim of identity theft as a result
of being a patient at Sister Kenny Institute between August 2001 and April 2002 should
call Detective Tom Sonenstahl, Hennepin County Sheriff’s office, at 612-348-8568.